*Warning contains distressing images*
A Harrow woman has been banned from keeping cats for ten years after causing unnecessary suffering to her pet cat by failing to deal with the cause of the animal’s poor body condition, weight loss and ill health.
In a prosecution brought by the RSPCA, Nicola Sabrina Alexandra Wright (dob 25/07/1977) was also sentenced to a 12 month community order with a requirement of 80 hours unpaid work and was ordered to pay £200 costs at Willesden Magistrates Court on 7 October.
The court heard how RSPCA inspector Nicole Broster had found Ms Wright’s cat Fendi in a distressing condition in a garden near to the defendant’s home during a visit following reports about the poor health of the cat.
Speaking after the verdict, inspector Broster said: “I had found poor Fendi lying down in a nearby garden. He was in a terrible condition. His fur was absolutely saturated in fly eggs, and there was pus and blood coming out of his nose and eyes – I couldn’t see his face as there were so many flies on him.
“He was lethargic, struggling to breathe and appeared very congested. He was also moving quite slowly and he was very thin – I could feel his hips, spine and ribs were very prominent when I stroked him. He also had bad hair loss on his rear right leg.”
Inspector Broster rushed Fendi to an RSPCA animal hospital in London to be examined. The RSPCA vet reported multiple serious medical conditions that would have caused suffering to Fendi. The cat had a discharge of pus and blood on his face, a severe upper respiratory tract congestion, he was severely emaciated, his coat showed a bad fly egg infestation over his back, he was dehydrated and had anaemia.
In the vet’s professional opinion, Fendi’s “multiple comorbidities” painted a picture of avoidable, severe, active neglect and unnecessary suffering over a period of four to eight weeks prior to his admission to the RSPCA’s hospital.
The vet added that the level of Fendi’s dehydration and blood changes reflected malnutrition and chronic disease, and that she would expect a reasonable owner to seek veterinary advice when these severe medical issues were first noticed or seek euthanasia if treatment options were not financially available or if no improvement was seen.
After treatment and investigations, the vet concluded that sadly the best course of action was for him to be put to sleep to end his suffering.
Inspector Broster added: “There is no excuse for causing an animal to suffer. No matter what the reason, neglecting an animal is completely unacceptable. If someone is struggling to cope there are lots of organisations that can provide support and we would urge people to seek help.”
Fendi was a male neutered tabby domestic shorthair cat aged around 15 years old.
